1887
Volume 40, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0812-3985
  • E-ISSN: 1834-7533

Abstract

The Tamar rift valley runs through the City of Launceston, Tasmania. Damage has occurred to city buildings due to earthquake activity in Bass Strait. The presence of the ancient valley, the Tamar valley, in-filled with soft sediments that vary rapidly in thickness from 0 to 250 m over a few hundreds metres, is thought to induce a 2D resonance pattern, amplifying the surface motions over the valley and in Launceston. Spatially averaged coherency (SPAC), frequency-wavenumber (FK) and horizontal to vertical spectrum ratio (HVSR) microtremor survey methods are combined to identify and characterise site effects over the Tamar valley.

Passive seismic array measurements acquired at seven selected sites were analysed with SPAC to estimate shear wave velocity (slowness) depth profiles. SPAC was then combined with HVSR to improve the resolution of these profiles in the sediments to an approximate depth of 125 m. Results show that sediments thicknesses vary significantly throughout Launceston. The top layer is composed of as much as 20 m of very soft Quaternary alluvial sediments with a velocity from 50 m/s to 125 m/s. Shear-wave velocities in the deeper Tertiary sediment fill of the Tamar valley, with thicknesses from 0 to 250 m vary from 400 m/s to 750 m/s.

Results obtained using SPAC are presented at two selected sites ( and ) that agree well with dispersion curves interpreted with FK analysis. FK interpretation is, however, limited to a narrower range of frequencies than SPAC and seems to overestimate the shear wave velocity at lower frequencies. Observed HVSR are also compared with the results obtained by SPAC, assuming a layered earth model, and provide additional constraints on the shear wave slowness profiles at these sites. The combined SPAC and HVSR analysis confirms the hypothesis of a layered geology at the site and indicates the presence of a 2D resonance pattern across the Tamar valley at the site.

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Initial results from spatially averaged coherency, frequency-wavenumber, and horizontal to vertical spectrum ratio microtremor survey methods for site hazard study at Launceston, Tasmania
Exploration Geophysics 40, 132 (2009); https://doi.org/10.1071/EG08106
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): frequency-wavenumber; high-resolution beamforming; microtremor survey method; passive seismic; resonance pattern; shear wave velocity profile; site effects; spatially averaged coherency

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